Mentoring and Teaching
Overview
My mentorship involvement, including my work as a teaching assistant and an undergraduate/graduate research adviser to several students, has taught me to remember the pure joy of learning, to value every single question, to be patient and understanding, and to expect the most out of everyone. I make an effort to assign the student a meaningful research project that parallels my work and their goals and interests. We co-learn by listening to others toward greater ingenuity, self-confidence, and commitment.
Current and Former Research Mentees
Jennings Ye, Spring 2022, CSE Certificate Scientific Computing Project
"Uncertainty quantification in long-term ocean climate trends and prediction of extreme waves"
Kaushik Katta, Spring 2022, CSE Certificate Scientific Computing Project
"Stochastic weather window analysis in planning of ocean-related operations and maintenance activities in support of a blue economy"
Elizabeth Washburn, Fall 2021, Master's degree research
PORTS '22 Student Paper Competition 1st Place
"A Simulation Study on Risk Associated with Berthing Loads for Load Factor Development"
David Chen, Spring 2021, Independent Study
"Ocean data exploration – trends and anomalies using the matrix profile"
Elton Nguyen, Fall 2019 - Spring 2020, Texas Research Experience (TREX) hosted by the Equal Opportunity in Engineering (EOE) program funded by Boeing, Millennium, and the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC)
"Evaluating flood due to extreme precipitation and assessing for risks "
Michael Ramirez, Nathan Zhang, Uriel Loredo, Spring 2019
2019 Poster Exhibition in Engineering Research (PEER) at UT Austin Upperclassmen 3rd Winner
"Climate change adaptation for resilient infrastructure"
Teaching
Fall 2020, Fall 2018, CE 311S – Probability and Statistics for Civil Engineers, UT Austin
Leading lab sessions of the class (3 hours/week)
Course Teaching Assistant Survey Average Rating: 4.57 / 5.00 (Fall 2020), 4.55 / 5.00 (Fall 2018)
“The interactive labs that Taemin made for us were super helpful for learning the material. The procedures he wrote out for the more difficult problem made me understand what I was struggling with. The class has a lot of content that I was totally unfamiliar with and its a lot to keep track of, but Taemin was always able to break it down so I could understand. Wishing you the best Taemin!”
“The most challenging aspects of the course lied in the fact that there were a lot of equations, and numerous variables to remember. It is not easy to keep the sheer amount of material in this class straight. Taemin was an incredibly helpful resource to field questions during lecture in the chat while professor was speaking, or even to reach throughout the semester. I can not remember a time he did not get back to me promptly. As a TA assistant he was a very strong and useful addition to this course.”
Other comments by students
“Taemin was a great TA! He was prepared for each and every lab activity, and his efforts to make the labs interactive and apply to real life scenarios via a digital format was much appreciated. His community quiz hints and his assistance during lab made everything straightforward. The only negative experience I had with lab was that when being put into breakout rooms, my group members rarely talked and no one showed their videos. This wasn't necessarily Taemin's fault as Zoom + the students aren't directly in his control. It was nice to switch up the groups every once in a while for this reason. The simulations were an amazing way to learn digitally this semester. One of the most effective virtual labs I've taken.”
“Did a really great job with labs and the website simulations”
“Taemin is a truly great person and a great TA. Any student would be lucky to have him. He was always prepared for class and was very understanding, due to the circumstances of this semester.”
“Taemin was great! I'm sure he had alot on his plate being the only TA for a course so big but he managed to ALWAYS answer any questions I had and walk me through assignments when I still couldn't get on track by myself. I never had to wait an extremely long time for any grades so 10/10!”
“Taimen was very prepared and clearly took a great deal of time in making the labs we used every week that helped me understand the material better.”
“Taemin was a great TA! He helped me with all of my questions and made me think. His labs were very interesting and I thought that he really put a lot of time into the labs in order to give us real world examples of what we were learning. Taemin was one of the best TA's that I have encountered as a senior in college. Thank you for a great semester, Taemin!”
“Taemin was a little quiet, but overall really helpful in answering my questions and clarifying the class material.”
“Taemin was the most diligent and helpful TA I have ever had.”
“He was always very prepared for lab sections and willing to help. I really thought his lab portion of the class was helpful in understanding the course content.”
“You had a great grasp on the class material and the labs were very relevant and helpful to supplementing lecture.”
“Great TA!”
“I thought he did a great job building labs for us and made them clear enough so we could actually learn from them. Very high quality worker.”
“Taemin wasn't enough of a vocal character to make a huge difference in the class. I felt as if he was another student that just so happen to host zoom meetings for the lab. Didn't really do anything in lectures, I don't even think the professor even knew what he looked like until the last day of class.”
“You can really tell that Taemin puts work into his TA-ing. His labs are well-constructed, and he takes the time during office hours to ensure that you know exactly what you are doing and why. A little bit quiet, but maybe that's just because of his mic.”
“Taemin was one of the best TA's that I have had at UT. One can tell that he works very hard at creating the labs for the class and is extremely patient and approachable. He was a great asset to the class and helped make the class's topics concise and clear.”
“Taemin was very helpful in this course. In all the assignments he gave very clear and thorough directions and also was able help on all of the course material.”
“Taemin was very helpful during labs.”
Fall 2019, SDS 302 – Data Analysis for Health Sciences, UT Austin
Leading lab sessions of the class (3 hours/week)
Course Teaching Assistant Survey Average Rating: 4.40 / 5.00
“Taemin was a great TA. He was always helpful and very patient in explaining concepts that I did not understand. He is a great person who cares about others.”
Other comments by students
“Taemin was very helpful especially when I needed help with my lab group.”
“He would sometimes confuse material up, but it's okay because people make mistakes! He's a good and kind teaching assistant, though”
“He was very helpful to my questions pertaining to homework!”
“Taemin was very helpful when I had questions!”
“Taemin was a very helpful TA!”
“He was very kind.”
Spring 2022, SDS 320E –Elements of Statistics (former Biostatistics), UT Austin
Leading lab sessions of the class (3 hours/week)
Course Teaching Assistant Survey Average Rating: 4.39 / 5.00
“Taemin was such a great TA this semester. Whether it was helping me with in-class participation questions, helping with projects during office hours, assisting us with the labs, or even staying after lab to help us with homework questions, Taemin was so knowledgeable and helpful. Even when he didn't know the direct answer, he would spend the time working everything out with us. Taemin was a great TA and UT is lucky to have him!”
“Taemin was probably one of, if not the, best TA I have ever had in any class. He is such an amazing person who is very knowledgeable about statistics. Taemin would help with anything you would ask him and would explain it in a such a nice and respectful way that would make sense. There were times where I did not understand a topic in lecture and going to Taemin's office hours, I would get it clarified in just 10 minutes. He is an outstanding TA!”
Other comments by students
“Taemin was so kind and was always ready to help! He was one of the only TA's that understood what was being taught, and he was able to provide students with accurate information regarding assignments and lectures.”
“Taemin was always kind, knowledgeable, clear, concise, and responsive. He gave thorough lab instructions that were in the same format every time so it was easy to follow along. Then while working within the group for a lab exercise, Taemin would timely pop up every now and then (or when we put our hand up on zoom) to answer questions (or supply a few) and put us on the right path. In lecture I found that he is the same way: polite and knowledgeable.”
“I really enjoyed having Taemin as a TA for this course. HE is what made the course doable to me through the office hours, email responses, and constant willingness to help and be understanding!”
“Very easy to understand”
“He provided useful information with lecture, lab questions.”
“Thanks, Taemin. I appreciate everything!”
“Thank you for answering my emails so quickly. You were a great TA and answered questions thoroughly. Have a great summer :)”
“Our TA was very helpful and was always available when needed.”
“Taemin was amazing! He is the best TA I've had at UT this far! I wish him the best!!”
Fall 2022, SDS 301 –Elementary Statistical Methods, UT Austin
Course Teaching Assistant Survey Average Rating: 4.25 / 5.00
“He was very knowledgeable about this subject. Every single question I had, he responded promptly (in–person and via e–mail)––– it was surprising honestly because I'm not used to TA's responding that quickly. He reiterated the professor's instructions often and when we misunderstood he asked exactly what concept confused us to clarify that, then build form there. By finding the root problem first, we were then able to understand the larger concept. He often used other examples to help explain concepts which made the content easier to understand.”
“The TA always answered within 10 minutes to a day which was so helpful in getting my work done and being able to continue studying. The teaching assistant always explained very clearly and I felt he was the best resource for asking for clarifications. The other teaching assistant did not respond to my questions, but Taemin was always available. ”
Other comments by students
"He checked my work and told me how to solve a problem and went through the question explaining every aspect."
"He was very approachable and he was also very understanding to the mistakes that students made. He was very deatailed when explaining a topic, allowing him to explain to the student efficiently and clearly."
"He wouldn't just tell me I did something wrong he would help me understand how to fix it"
"He was helpful and to the point."
"Was understanding with deadlines and difficulties with assignments."
"They responded to every email quick and gave me the information I needed."
"He helped answer my questions during class when I didn't want to ask in front of everyone."
"He would not only answer my specific questions, but would go back and relate them to the general concepts to make sure I understood the whole idea and not just a specific answer which I think was great."
"The reasoning for why I missed homework problems was clear and to the point."
"when I was struggling on my final project during class he was able to explain my idea and project better"
"The TA was available during lecture and via email. Also, the TA explained concepts thoroughly."
"The TA always answered my doubts pertaining to the homework and explained the things I did wrong and how I could improve on the same."
"Taemin was a great help any time I had any questions about the grading of my assignments."
"I attended almost all of his office hours and he was able to answer any questions that I had."
"I had only interacted with him once this semester and he was able to clear up the confusion of what was expected for a homework problem."
"The hours of their TA's were beneficial, and I wasn't afraid to ask them questions."
"He allowed me to gain a deeper understanding when he pulls outside examples."
"During lectures he always sat close by for questions and walked around during group projects for questions"
"I really liked that he explained how we could improve our work, like giving us better scenarios or explaining why something might work better than something else."
"He was not judgmental and did not think any questions were "stupid"."
"The TA seemed very nice and approachable. When I had questions he was adequate in his responses."